Ramos will seek fifth term, not state top prosecutor post

Tuesday

Mar 14, 2017 at 1:36 PMMar 14, 2017 at 3:04 PM

Ramos will seek fifth term as District Attorney, withdraws from Attorney General race.

Shea Johnson Staff Writer @DP_Shea

San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos on Tuesday announced he will seek re-election next year, withdrawing from the state Attorney General race "after serious consideration and conversations with my supporters and family."

"I have been blessed to serve as ... District Attorney for the last 15 years, and hope to do so for another four years," Ramos said in a statement, "which is why I am announcing my decision to run again in 2018."

Ramos first declared his intention to run for state Attorney General in late 2014 and then accelerated his campaign in early 2015 after then-Attorney General Kamala Harris said she'd seek to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate in November. Ramos, a Republican, had hoped to be appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to fill Harris' remaining two years and had called the governor to express his desire.

But nearly two years later, Brown appointed Xavier Becerra, a long-time Democratic Congressman, to the post in December. The seat is up for grabs in November 2018.

In announcing that he'd no longer seek to become the state's top prosecutor, Ramos said he "can better serve the public at the local level, while still continuing to champion legislation and public safety efforts at both the state and national levels."

A tough-on-crime and victims' rights prosecutor, Ramos' profile has risen in recent years as he's been unafraid to challenge public figures through social media and as this county saw a number of widely publicized incidents, none more so than the Dec. 2, 2015 terrorist attack.

Last year, he co-chaired a proposition that promised to fix a broken death penalty system in California by speeding up appeal proceedings. The proposition was approved by voters but has since been met with an unresolved legal challenge by opponents who call it unconstitutional.

In July, he was named president of the National District Attorneys Association, which he said Tuesday "afforded me the opportunity to interact and collaborate with district attorneys from all across our great nation."

"Simply put, I learned that as district attorneys we have the chance to ensure justice," he said, "and truly affect positive change for victims and their families, and the public we serve."

The state Attorney General's office hasn't been Republican-controlled since 1999, potentially marking a difficult pathway for Ramos, anyway, but he has pointed to how, as a four-term District Attorney, he has worked well with both Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brown, a Democrat.

"There is more great work we can accomplish together," he concluded, "and my promise is to do so on the very ideals that guided me throughout my career as a prosecutor: seeking justice on behalf of victims and their families and fighting to make public safety a priority."

Shea Johnson can be reached at 760-955-5368 or SJohnson@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.

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